ABSTRACT
Aim To investigate the effects of dalbinol on proliferation and apoptosis of human colon cancer HCT1 16 cells and its mechanisms.Methods Anti-proliferative effect of dalbinol was evaluated by MTT assay.The morphological changes of apoptosis were observed by Hoechst33342 staining.Apoptotic rate and ROS generation were analyzed by flow cytometry.The related proteins of Wnt/β-catenin pathway and the ap-optosis-associated proteins expression were measured by Western blot.Results The growth of HCT1 16 treated with dalbinol was inhibited in a dose and time dependent manner with IC50 (4.8 ±0.53 ),(2.5 ± 0.43)and (0.6 ±0.22)μmol·L-1 at 24,48 and 72 h,respectively.Typical morphological changes of ap-optosis such as cell shrinkage,karyopyknosis and nu-clear condensation were observed by Hoechst33342 staining.Meanwhile,the apoptotic rate and intracellu-lar ROS generation of dalbinol were both increased dose-dependently. Western blot results showed that dalbinol could activate the expression of cleaved Caspase-3 and cleaved PARP by decreasing anti-apop-totic protein levels such as Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 and in-creasing pro-apoptotic protein levels such as Bax and Bim,which induced further apoptosis.Moreover,dal-binol can reduce the protein expression of the total and nuclear β-catenin,but not cytoplasmic β-catenin by suppressing the protein expression of Dvl-2 and GSK-3β(pS9 ),as well as its target proteins c-Myc and Sur-vivin.Conclusion dalbinol can induce apoptosis in colon cancer HCT1 16 cells by upregulating the intra-cellular ROS generation and suppressing Dvl/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway.